Today was 2 day of our traveling.In the centre of Bukhara to the west of the famous Lyabi Hauz square is located the oldest mosque in Bukhara – Magoki Attori – is located.Its construction in 714 is associated with the name of the Arab Sheikh, Governor of Khorasan, Qutayba Ibn Muslim – one of the first people who brought Islam to the territory of Central Asia. Even before the arrival of the Arabs to Bukhara, a bazaar was located on the site of the mosque, where before the establishment of Islam, Zoroastrian idols, medicinal herbs and spices – attoron – were sold. And in the beginning, this place was called Attoron Bazaar. There was also a cult Zoroastrian temple of the Moon.In order not to drown out the history of the area, the mosque, built on the site of the destroyed temple of the Zoroastrians, was named Magoki Attori.

The mosque originally had 6 pillars and 12 domes. The main entrance had a portal with an arch on two pillars. The material they used to decorate the building was polished and carved bricks. They made patterns in the form of curls, spirals and meanders with them. They also artfully combined bricks-bows with terracotta mosaics with glazed tile inserts. The vertical panels of moderate sizes have diagonal lines of inscriptions in Arabic and relief girih geometric designs. The original shapes and shadow tricks the brick patterns, as well as the ornamental splendor of the southern façade, prove amazing artistry and craftsmanship of Bukhara artisans in the 12th c.

The inscriptions on the new eastern portal say that the revival of mosque began in the 16th c. The portals of Magoki-Attori Mosque with their carved stucco ornaments, majolica, polished bricks and terracotta designs are masterpieces of Oriental architectural decoration and it is certainly worth seeing them.